Identified! VA - Centreville, WhtFem 25-39, 120UFVA, clothes, Sz 8B sandals, earrings, Dec'93 - Sharon Kay Abbott Lane

[CarlK90245]

The following thread is dedicated to the comparison of this UID to Michelle Marie Ashley Nicholaou

Possible Match VA-Fairfax Virginia Jane Doe to Michelle Marie Ashley Nicholaou


Any discussion of Michelle with respect to this UID should take place on the above linked thread.

 

[CarlK90245]

Frankie Viola Hurst was added to NamUs back in March, but her casefile was only recently made public.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/9595/48

She is described as a frequent interstate hitchhiker, and was last believed to be hitchhiking from KS to SC. She has family in Virginia and South Carolina So the body's location in Virginia is consistent.

The photo doesn't provide a clear view of her teeth, but from what I can see, they might be gapped and crooked. She appears to be missing one upper right tooth. Unfortunately, there is no dental chart in the UID's NamUs casefile.

Her height is consistent. Her age is consistent, and the timeframe is consistent.

She also has thick, dark hair as is described of the UID.

 

[CarlK90245]

I left a voicemail message with Shane Chittenden of the Northern District MedEx office in Virginia to suggest that he look into Frankie Hurst as a possible for this UID.

 

[pugsley]

The Doe Network:
Case File 120UFVA http://doenetwork.org/cases/120ufva.html
NamUs UP Case https://identifyus.org/cases/8493

Reconstructions of Victim

Unidentified White Female

* The victim was discovered on December 6, 1993 in Centreville, Fairfax County, Virginia
* Estimated Date of Death: Some time after 1988 and probably before January 1993. A later estimate is December 6, 1987.
* Cause of Death: Multiple stab wounds
* Skeletal Remains

Vital Statistics

* Estimated age: 26 - 39 years old
* Approximate Height and Weight: 5'0 - 5'3"
* Distinguishing Characteristics: White or Hispanic female. Brown hair. Small to medium build. A comb nearby showed the woman had large, bushy & thick hair. Filed fingernails with pink polish.
* Dentals: Available. She probably had not seen a dentist in some time. The gap between her two front teeth was crooked and decayed. She had a lot of cavities and a lot of damage to her teeth, based on decay.
* Clothing: Ripped (right side leg) panties, rolled up bra, sandals, red pick, yellow banana clip, red cloth, plastic zipper cloth. A piece of clothing with the word "Lifesavers" was found near the remains and bits of synthetic material. Button clip-on earring.

Case History
The victim remains were located by a construction worker in a wooded area near Compton Road and Route 28, approximately 150 yards from the intersection of Calvary Place and Sharpsburg Place in Centreville, Virginia on December 6, 1993. It appeared to be a shallow, above ground, grave.

The gap in the teeth, the decay(because of the length of time she has been missing) & the bushy hair made me think of Audrey Nerenburg

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/nerenberg_audrey.html

 

[pugsley]

Black & White are Jane doe, Color photos are Audrey & her age progression sketch.

 

[CarlK90245]

I left a voicemail message with Shane Chittenden of the Northern District MedEx office in Virginia to suggest that he look into Frankie Hurst as a possible for this UID.

I received a call from Shane Chittenden this morning, and he said that he is not the contact for this UID, and doesn't know how his name got entered in NamUs as the point of contact.

So I dropped an e-mail to David Baldwin and received this response.

Yes, I am the point of contact. We will look at this and see what we can do to match/eliminate the comparison. We’ll try to keep you updated, but feel free to drop me an email with any questions.

 

[Seifsister]

Frankie Viola Hurst was added to NamUs back in March, but her casefile was only recently made public.

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/9595/48

She is described as a frequent interstate hitchhiker, and was last believed to be hitchhiking from KS to SC. She has family in Virginia and South Carolina So the body's location in Virginia is consistent.

The photo doesn't provide a clear view of her teeth, but from what I can see, they might be gapped and crooked. She appears to be missing one upper right tooth. Unfortunately, there is no dental chart in the UID's NamUs casefile.

Her height is consistent. Her age is consistent, and the timeframe is consistent.

She also has thick, dark hair as is described of the UID.

I helped the family get Frankie reported missing. She did not have a gap between her top teeth. Frankie is being looked at in another Jane Doe as a possible match. Keep up the good work.

 

[Irish_Eyes]

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/12750/4/

What does everyone think of Frances Morales as a possible? She was just entered on 10/24/11.

 

[CarlK90245]

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/12750/4/

What does everyone think of Frances Morales as a possible? She was just entered on 10/24/11.

She has messed up teeth, as does the UID, but they aren't gapped. I'm wondering though if the UID really had gapped teeth, or if they were gapped due to tooth decay.

Everything else seems close enough.

She was just recently added to NamUs, so she probably hasn't been compared to too many NamUs cases by way of their automated matching system.

 

[webrocket]

if you look at all the images at Doe Network for this UID, you'd think they were describing different women.

 

[Irish_Eyes]

Did you get that image from Doe, Carl? Trying to figure out if it is the same Ms. Morales as my link above...if not, it's quite odd that she does also in fact resemble our UID...

 

[CarlK90245]

Did you get that image from Doe, Carl?

No, I got it from Charley Project. It is the same Ms. Morales.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/morales_frances.html

 

[Irish_Eyes]

Oh, thanks! I thought I was losing my sanity.

I'm on the fence about her. To submit or not to submit? That is the question. The teeth are what are hanging me up.

 

[traacker13]

Oh, thanks! I thought I was losing my sanity.

I'm on the fence about her. To submit or not to submit? That is the question. The teeth are what are hanging me up.

Irish Eyes, I found this UID while searching for other prospects but thought that she looked remarkably like Frances:

http://doenetwork.org/cases/705ufct.html

 

[Irish_Eyes]

Irish Eyes, I found this UID while searching for other prospects but thought that she looked remarkably like Frances:

http://doenetwork.org/cases/705ufct.html

Aw, thanks! I do see some similarities. She's a little younger in her estimate than Frances, but not much. She's also a couple hours further away than Frances, but not so far that it's unreasonable. It's really just a straight shot up 95 from Frances to where this UID was found in CT.

I think I'm going to sit on this for another week or two. Once Frances has been in NamUs for a whole month, I will assume that she has been run against potential matches in the system (if she has DNA, which right now I can't remember.) If she's still there around Thanksgiving I might just give the investigator in her case a call and suggest he compare these two UID's to Frances.

 

[astridxx]

Any updates on this case?

 

[Ambercat]

Years ago (in the 1990s), this case was featured on The New Detectives: Case Studies in Forensic Science on The Discovery Channel. I think it may be the only episode of that show that I haven't seen all of the way through.

 

[Ambercat]

Something about Myriam Isabella Kniaz reminded me of this UID; it sounds like she ran away from a foster home in Ste-Foy, Quebec on November 15, 1981 (which may make her an unlikely possibility). She looks like she has thick bushy hair in her photo.

http://www.ourmissingchildren.gc.ca/cgi-bin/case.pl?id=200&lang=eng

 

[Houston Mom]

I was wondering about Belinda Norred missing Aug 1992. She has a gap between her teeth. BTW, this UID has 527 rule outs!

https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/12599/0/

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/n/norred_belinda.html

 

[Migmuu]

I don't see Donna Harris on the rule-out list.
https://www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/1082/0

1. Age (35) is within range
2. Race (Caucasian) matches
3. Height (5'2) is within range
4. Hair (brown, thick, shoulder-length) matches
5. Both women had pierced ears. Also, the earrings in Donna's picture look similar to the ones on the UP.
6. Last seen wearing blue jeans, UP found with blue jeans. Her shoes are described as "white sneakers" but the UP had white sandals on; I don't know if maybe the shoe type could have been misreported
7. Harris's breasts look fairly small, which would be consistent with the 34B bra found on the UP
8. Timing lines up; Harris disappeared in Aug. 1991 and the UP is thought to have died between 1988 and 1992
9. Circumstances also line up. Foul play is suspected in Harris's case, UP was found to have been stabbed to death.
10. The distance is 185 miles, which is long but doable.
11. And Harris looks similar to the clay/bust reconstruction.

ETA: Harris doesn't have DNA or dentals in NamUs, so no automatic rule-out could be made.